Category: October 2011

Perfectionist by Vanessa Chastain Rivas

I read a passage, but I did not read it. Words entered and passed against the hardened nerves of a paralyzed brain. Trembling, trembling. Shriveled, calloused and jaded, the nerves registered nothing, transported no phrases through epic distances, and deciphered no code.

Jumping the Gun by Donna Steiner

When I began teaching, none of my students ever asked about publishing their work. They were content, it seemed, to learn the craft, hone particular pieces, and perhaps, someday, begin the process of submitting to literary journals or editors or agents. That has changed.

Bone Tattoos: Writing Lake Eola by Lisa Ahn

Lake Eola Park, in the center of Orlando – a world away from cartoon Disney – makes me wish that I could draw. Some places demand the bold strokes of acrylic, the definitives of ink, the texturized weight of Bristol paper. Nothing but a painter’s hand, a drafter’s arm will do. The precise skills I am lacking.

Editor’s Notes: October 2011

What terrifies you? I mean, really frightens you to the point where you triple-check that closet door and, perhaps, force yourself to stay awake in fear of slipping into a horrifying nightmare? For a young Ben Jolivet, it was the Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown commercials.